WWYD if Your Spouse Wanted to Buy Bitcoin?

**scfr** · 02-14-2021, 05:31 PM

As I reread my post, it dawns on me that part of the appeal for my DH is probably that it will give his something exciting to talk about with his guy pals. A few of them have retired in the past year or two and I've noticed that their conversations have started to shift from business talk to investment talk.

**kork13** · 02-14-2021, 06:34 PM

Well, after verifying her identity & recovering from the shock of DW suddenly having an interest in anything investment related......

I'd first pull up the growth chart to explain that bitcoin is insanely high right now, so buying in at the top makes no sense. Transition into the ultra-high risk profile of currency speculation, let alone cyber currency... And finish with a respectful request to NOT waste our money, maybe dangling a suggestion of a different (more palatable) investment that she might be more interested/personally invested in.

But again, DW has little to no interest with investments, which is why her Roth IRA and TSP are both sitting in a 2040 Target Date fund. I can't imagine a universe in which she'd be interested in Bitcoin.

**MonkeyMama** · 02-15-2021, 05:08 AM

*shrugs*

I'd let my spouse invest in Bitcoin.

If my spouse today wanted to do something like this and I was sure it would fail, would still let him. It just wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things and I am not his mother. If it's a miserable failure, worst case is he learns a lesson the hard way and gives your opinion more weight next time.

**disneysteve** · 02-15-2021, 05:24 AM

Originally posted by scfr View Post

Back in August, we designated a bit of money for DH to trade individual stocks. It's his "financial fun money."

I don't see the problem here. You've specifically said it is "fun money". That means he can do what he'd like with it and you're prepared to lose it all.

Would I do it? No. But that's not the question here.

**ua_guy** · 02-15-2021, 06:00 AM

My spouse has surpassed me as an investor, so I'd say go right ahead. Undoubtedly, the amount of money would be small/inconsequential to our other goals, savings, investments.

I think it's something worth understanding. Let me also rephrase to say we will probably NEED to understand it at some point. I don't think it's going away. And I think a lot of people are doing just that - making a small test investment to learn how it works and to keep up on cryptocurrency.

I wouldn't be off-put by the fact that it's high right now. I distinctly remember dinner conversations with my parents and their friends about Microsoft, Starbucks, Apple stocks back in the 90's. My parent's friends were saying they were going to buy and hold. My dad thought they were high - not just the stocks, the guests! Why would anyone buy such over-valued stock at such a high price? Certainly the growth couldn't sustain. Well, they hung on to those, and I think they were very happy with their strategy. I'm not saying this is Crypto, but it certainly could be.

**disneysteve** · 02-15-2021, 06:33 AM

Originally posted by ua_guy View Post

I wouldn't be off-put by the fact that it's high right now.

Very true. Sometimes something really is the next big thing. I agree that crypto is not going away. Now that major financial firms are starting to establish crypto departments, it's gaining legitimacy. Does that mean it's a good investment? Not necessarily. But I think it's less sketchy than it used to be.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 02-17-2021, 08:10 AM

sure why not? I've been allowed to play. Or rather I didn't talk to my DH about our investments.

**HundredK** · 02-17-2021, 09:08 AM

My husband trades in bitcoin and other crypto with his fun money and I just consider it money spent on social activities for him. We used to mine it back in the day too. And lately he's been doing a thing where you essentially buy mining power with bitcoin and then get some higher amount of a different crypto back without having to spend money on your own electricity and computer components to mine it yourself. We have quite a little wallet going of all manner of crypto. I don't count it in our net worth, and I don't care if it all gets lost. It's his to do with what he wants and to have fun in his social circle as they all decide what thing they wanna try next. I do, however, track it all for tax purposes. As long as it's money that isn't essential to your well-being, just call it a social activity and have fun.

**btctony** · 02-17-2021, 01:03 PM

OP, please read my other posts on Bitcoin. There is a lot of info there that may help explain why others value Bitcoin at such a high level.

**myrdale** · 02-18-2021, 05:32 AM

I made a post a couple of days ago about buying my first Bitcoin. 0.0004 coin for a price of $20. The purpose of that purchase was to try and learn more about how the transactions work. At most I have $20 + $140 for a hardware wallet sunk into it.

Looking at the price of Bit coin over the past few years:

$100 in 2014
$250 in 2015
$500 in 2016
$20,000 in 2017
$4,000 in 2018
$12,000 in 2019
$52,000 today

What is the price of Bitcoin in 2022? $100,000 or $500?
What is the price of Bitcoin in 2050? $1,000,000 or $0?

Instead of Bitcoin we could be talking about Peso, Yen, or arguing over Red and Black on a roulette table or Tesla stock. To a certain extent it is all a gamble. With regular stocks you're not going to get rich quick, but consistency and time, and the odds are on your side.

Maybe the system gets hacked and Bitcoin goes to $0 (my understanding is this isn't possible... but you know).

Maybe world governments decide they don't like their citizens trading wealth with a non centralized system, and it is outlawed (I think this is more likely).

Maybe it is the way of the future (I think this is true of cryto in general).

I think alot of people are taken in by the thoughts of a gold rush and get rich quick. It's my opinion that anyone who isn't selling every bit they have today will be left holding the bag in a year. I believe its going to be around for a long while, and the security it offers is allowing people to control their wealth outside of the government. But at the same time I think it will remain as volatile into the future as it has been in the past.

And to the original poster, if it's his fun money for investing, go for it. But when it crashes in 2 months, don't sell everything he bought today.

**scfr** · 02-26-2021, 09:41 AM

Thanks for all the comments!
I've continued to just sit back and let him "do his thing" with this "fun money" and interestingly he hasn't invested any in Bitcoin yet.

Shortly after our wedding (28 years ago) we had an interesting conversation where he explained that he knows he's a bit like a kite flying off here and there, and he's counting on me to be the one on the ground holding the string, letting him fly but reeling the string in when needed. And that's pretty much how it's been. I think it has worked pretty well for us.
So although my inclination was to just sit back and watch what happens, I wanted to check myself (especially since I know so little about Bitcoin) and make sure this wasn't one of those times when I should call a timeout.

I feel like I should restate that this "financial fun money" was a recent development, and didn't happen until we had met all of our other major financial goals. The major financial goals were met by a combination of good old reliable basics (working, sensible spending, saving, and typical but on the conservative side investing) and risks (most notably starting a business) AND TIME.

**bennkar** · 02-26-2021, 10:29 AM

I would ask them to explain to me how crypto currency works. If they can't do that, then I would ask why are they investing in things they don't understand. If they can and really understand it, and its play money, then ok I guess.

That said.... one thing you may want to know. Governments do not like crypto currency at all. In fact, when you file taxes (at least with HRBlock where my GF is working) they are required to ask if the person has crypto currency of every person that comes in to do taxes. The only crypto currency they want you to have is their own. As for other cryptos, the government in the US won't outlaw it, but instead find ways to criminalize having it without letting others know, and tax it at extra high rates (My guess anyway - take it for what its worth).

Originally posted by myrdale View Post

Maybe world governments decide they don't like their citizens trading wealth with a non centralized system, and it is outlawed (I think this is more likely).

Maybe it is the way of the future (I think this is true of crypto in general).

**disneysteve** · 02-26-2021, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by bennkar View Post

when you file taxes (at least with HRBlock where my GF is working) they are required to ask if the person has crypto currency of every person that comes in to do taxes.

That isn't unique to HRBlock. The IRS considers crypto to be an investment vehicle. Just like any other investment, gains are taxable. If you buy Bitcoin for $20,000 and sell it for $40,000, you've got a $20,000 gain to report and pay taxes on. It is taxed at the capital gains rate just like stocks or mutual funds.

**Like2Plan** · 02-26-2021, 11:30 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

That isn't unique to HRBlock. The IRS considers crypto to be an investment vehicle. Just like any other investment, gains are taxable. If you buy Bitcoin for $20,000 and sell it for $40,000, you've got a $20,000 gain to report and pay taxes on. It is taxed at the capital gains rate just like stocks or mutual funds.

I've never bought or sold crypto currency, but I wonder how careful folks have been keeping track of the basis. At least now a days your brokerage account has to keep track of your basis on trades. I wonder if it is/was a requirement for the trading platforms that folks used for crypto --whatever that might have been....since one of the attributes for cypto was it was anonymous.

WWYD if Your Spouse Wanted to Buy Bitcoin?